Holidays

Friday, 25 November 2016

The following are thoughts I shared with my family today during Thanksgiving dinner here on Whidbey Island:

Dugualla Bay from Uncle Bob's Sportsman's Lodge

On this Thanksgiving, we are blessed with gratitude in abundance. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It’s for quiet reflection and raucous discussion. Above all, for me Thanksgiving is about our family, our connections, our traditions, our past, and our future. It is legacy in action.

Here is a sampling of gratitude:

Colin

We are grateful that Colin feels good about being a student at Bridges Academy. He’s made new friends there, and has passionately discovered yoga, chess, and chicken-wrangling. All of these offer new venues to apply his rising mastery of stand-up comedy.

Colin is also becoming a master quick-witted thinking. For example, his Humanities teacher, Ian had this to say about a him:

…we had a debate in class today on the subject of women's suffrage from a 19th century point of view. Colin was on the team arguing against women's suffrage and I would like to point out that he was one of the debate stars, clearly articulating arguments from that point of view, even though he does not agree with them. Not only did he participate enthusiastically, but he was also a leader, helping many of his teammates along the way. I was quite impressed.

Audrey

We are grateful that Audrey has a deeply feeling and perceptive heart, caring and connection with animals from horses to humans. We love her artistic abilities ranging from graceful movement to a creative and inspired hand.

I am grateful that she enjoys listening to stories of my youth. It reminds me of my own young self when I fondly listened to stories from my own significant adults.

And I am grateful that she knows how to trick me into great hugs!

Claire

We are grateful that Claire has an upbeat, can-do spirit… a direct inheritance from her Mom! Even when she has a difficult, grumpy, or sad time, she uncannily bounces back typically within a very short time. Like her sister, she also possesses graceful artistic gifts of body and spirit. She has a great energy and persistence that has quickly helped her develop into an excellent gymnast!

I am grateful for her freely flowing kindness and thoughtfulness toward others. And for her love of the outdoors, nature, and all creatures… especially chickens!

Reconnected friends

Chicken whisperer in action

Uncle Bob

We are grateful to Uncle Bob for having the vision to build a home on Whidbey Island and that he once again has welcomed us here. We are grateful for his inquisitiveness and knowledge of many, many things: wood gathering and cutting, boats, crabs, trees, composting, wood burning stoves, and more.

I am grateful that he loves playing with Colin, Audrey, and Claire and that he makes them feel comfortable and welcome, even when they pretend they are not!

Uncle Dennis

We are grateful to Uncle Dennis for massive road trips with Dusty to be with family and for not blinking an eye when called upon to do so (and for keeping Grandpa Hank’s driving gene going strong!). We are grateful for his incredible passion a a chef at Thanksgiving and other times of the year. He truly understands the meaning of home-cooked comfort and food made with love. It is always all the more delicious because of that.

We are also grateful that he maintains the continuity of great dogs in our family. And of course, we are grateful for Dusty!

I am grateful that he thoughtfully brings gift cards for Colin, Audrey, and Claire and that he has a knack for getting the most ginormous kids’ Christmas gifts. He shares my taste for Newcastle and remembers I like whiskey. And openly opens his Fresno home when I’m traveling on my dirtbag road trips.

Grandma Denise

We are especially grateful to Grandma Denise who has provided the very generous grant that has made this entire program possible! In addition to her family, the community of Oak Harbor thanks her for her support of the local economy! She is definitive evidence that one never stops being a Mom. We are so grateful for her support, love, and sense of adventure and travel. And for her great sense of humor.

In addition to being my mother-in-law, I am grateful to call her a long time friend—twenty plus years now. We have spent many wonderful times together, one on one, working on projects around Phelan, the Dana Point apartments, and her Villa Park home. And I would be remiss to not mention all the great trips we’ve all taken together around the world as a family.

Jennifer

Jennifer is so many, many powerful and complex things to all of us: Mother, sister, daughter, spouse. She is a giver who we cannot ever appreciate enough.

When we got married, I told everyone that, with Jennifer, I whole-heartedly chose the “challenge option.” That choice has not changed… I still embrace it. And, man, she has not disappointed in providing me with challenges… primarily of the positive variety!

Sometimes, single words best describe the gratitude you have for a person and this is one of those instances. Here are some words that immediately come to mind when I think of Jennifer:

Patience

Heart

Adventure

Fun

Devotion

Joy

Vision

Drive

Strength

Beauty

And, of course, challenge!

For these things, and many more, I say to Jennifer: Thank you.

Family

We have a broad, funny, sometimes wacky, far-ranging, and at the core, loving and kind-hearted family. We send gratitude to all who are not with us here today, both those still here on this earth and those who have passed on. While they are gone in body, their spirits carry on within us all.

To use common vernacular, gratitude is not all about “rainbows and lollipops.” We all go through times of struggle and challenge. But I prefer to see these times as part of a larger mosaic for which we don’t yet have a complete perspective and appreciation.

Some closing thoughts from a couple of wise souls.

One arrived just this morning from a recent acquaintance who is a minister:

The genius of gratitude, of course, is that you aren’t merely grateful when life turns out well; you’re grateful for whatever is presented to you. This is why gratitude transforms everything, including the inevitable losses that touch our lives. A sure way to have a happier life is to rediscover gratitude. It’s that simple. The more grateful we are, the more alive we feel.—R. Scott Colglazier

And the other is a (personally) long time resonance from the composer John Cage:

The first question I ask myself when something doesn't seem to be beautiful is why do I think it's not beautiful. And very shortly you discover that there is no reason.

"Always changing, never twice the same..." (Robert Irwin). One of the beautiful elements of this world. I try to remember it every day. The dirtbagdad is always evolving. Sometime the movement is a few steps back, but in the long view, it's always forward.